NEW DELHI, 5 Jan: Opposition leaders on Monday raised questions over the Supreme Court denying bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, while pointing out that rape convict Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been repeatedly granted parole.
In a post on X, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary MA Baby said the Supreme Court’s decision is shocking.
“The court’s statement that ‘continued detention has not crossed constitutional impermissibility to override the statutory embargo as against them’ is a travesty of justice. Is languishing in jail for five years, without any possibility of trial starting, not a violation of the fundamental right to life and liberty?” he asked.
Baby said this ruling effectively enables the BJP government’s “repressive tactics of targeting voices of dissent.”
“At the same time, convicted rapist Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh walked out of jail today on his 15th parole since his conviction in 2017. This is shameful and unacceptable!” he added.
Taking to X, CPI (M) Rajya Sabha member John Brittas said the principle that “bail is the rule, jail the exception” clearly does not apply when it comes to certain individuals.
“One languishes indefinitely without trial. The other enjoys repeated ‘jail vacations’ on demand,” he said, referring to Singh.
Serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, Singh walked out of the Sunaria jail in Rohtak on Monday after he was granted a 40-day parole. This is the 15th time he has been granted parole since his conviction in the case in 2017.
The CPI (M) said in a post on X that the continued denial of bail to Khalid and Imam is against the principles of natural justice. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is being used to crush dissent, it charged.
“Prolonged pre-trial incarceration violates the fundamental principle that bail is the rule, not jail, and undermines the constitutional right to liberty and a speedy trial. The continued use of UAPA to target dissenting voices reflects a disturbing pattern of repression and selective justice. We reiterate our demand for the release of all political prisoners,” it said.
Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja said more than five years in jail without a trial is not justice, it is punishment without adjudication.
He said the denial of bail exposes a disturbing double standard in the country’s criminal justice system.
“Convicted offenders in cases of rape, murder and mass violence routinely obtain bail or parole, while undertrials accused on the basis of untested allegations are kept behind bars indefinitely. Under laws like UAPA, jail has become the norm and liberty the exception,” Raja wrote on X.
He also referred to the late GN Saibaba, a Delhi University professor and activist who was arrested under the UAPA in 2014 over alleged links with Maoists and later acquitted.
“Prof GN Saibaba was incarcerated for years under the same draconian provisions, only to be acquitted later, after a meaningful part of his life was stolen for no crime,” the CPI leader said.
The CPI (ML) Liberation echoed similar sentiments.
It said the denial of bail to Khalid and Imam even after more than five years in jail without a trial marks a “blatant negation of the very idea of justice and constitutional liberty of Indian citizens.”
This confirms their “specific targeting” by the state, it said.
“In a judgement akin to the infamous emergency-time ADM Jabalpur case, where the Supreme Court capitulated to the authoritarian Indira Gandhi regime, today’s judgement reflects its failure to stand in defence of civil liberties and the right to dissent,” the CPI (ML) said.
The judgement in the ADM Jabalpur vs Shivkant Shukla case was controversial as it held that a person’s right to not be unlawfully detained can be suspended in the interest of the state.
“The Supreme Court was on trial in this matter, and it has indicted itself. It now rests with the people of the country to rise up against this erosion of democratic institutions and restore the constitutional ethos in the country,” the CPI (ML) Liberation said.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha said the denial of bail raises “troubling questions.”
“While it is true that constitutional courts have the power and indeed the duty to grant bail where incarceration becomes unduly long, unjustified, or disproportionate, yet, in the case of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel, the prevailing judicial view seems to be that the time already spent in jail is still not long enough, and that the delay in trial is not yet shocking or unconstitutional,” he said.
“This raises troubling questions about how much incarceration must be endured before constitutional protections are activated and achieved,” he added.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused bail to activists Khalid and Imam but granted it to five others, citing “hierarchy of participation” and saying all accused in the case do not stand on the same footing.
Those granted bail are activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmad.
The February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured. (PTI)
